by Ryan Biddulph | Blogging, Guest Posts |
This is a guest post by Ryan Biddulph. He shares smart blogging tips at Blogging From Paradise.
Some bloggers blog for themselves without listening to what their readers want.
Oddly enough, most bloggers make this mistake at times. Some bloggers err in this fashion for the entirety of their blogging career.
One blog I visited 5 minutes ago greeted me with Christmas music and cyber snowflakes falling across the screen. I admire the cute touch but did the blogger poll their readers before making a holiday-themed edit?
I hate being a Grinch but I love being honest. As a rule, adding music to your blog – or any site – is a no-no. Readers tend to enjoy music-free blogging experiences. Being assaulted by unexpected, loud music turns off most readers.
Perhaps the blogger asked their readers before adding holiday-themed music and cyber snowflakes falling from the internet skies. However, most bloggers make dramatic blog edits without asking readers for feedback.
Trust your gut. But be careful about making big blogging edits before asking readers. Blog readers make a blogging community. Turning off most blog readers dissolves most of your community.
I shared a time sensitive holiday edit above. December 25th or January 1st marks the respective days most bloggers ceases adding holiday changes to their blogs. But other bloggers make fundamental edits for the long haul without ever asking readers for their feedback.
Why would you make big blogging changes without asking readers if they want you to make the change? Sans readers, every blogger runs a cyber-diary. Feel free to be the shot caller of your cyber diary. Ask readers for feedback before making significant changes to your blog.
Find the Happy Balance
Find the happy balance between trusting your gut and fielding reader feedback. Never solely become a slaver to reader needs. Why would you blog unless you partially honor your inner feedback?
Readers respect, clear, confident bloggers who make some decisions based on their gut. But listen closely to reader feedback to solve their problems, to inspire them to live their dreams and to set up a seamless user experience.
My blog is essentially free content with my eBooks links and embeds mixed in. I use no pop-ups. I do not even post an opt-in form on my blog sidebar. Blogging From Paradise boasts a lean, mean and clean design. I publish content, promote my eBooks and courses and add nothing else to my blog.
I receive virtually no feedback concerning any aspect of my blog. Receiving no feedback signals my readers enjoy what I have to offer. But if a high volume of readers begged me to add an embed for joining my email list I would add an embed to honor reader needs.
A few bloggers asked me to open blog comments.
I listened closely to desiring commenters with an open mind. But each commenter rarely commented on my blog. I did not open comments because receiving a few comments monthly from legit commenters does not outweigh the huge load thousands of spammers place on my server every single month. I refuse to pay for spamming freeloaders to gobble up server space. I listened to reader feedback with an open mind but trusted my gut.
Listen closely to your readers.
No blogger needs reader feedback to succeed but wise bloggers note reader feedback mirroring patterns. Blogging friends of mine nudged me to self-publish eBooks in 2013. I feared self-publishing up to that point. As more bloggers egged me on to begin self-publishing eBooks I honored their influence and wrote a few eBooks for my old blogs.
A few more trusted blogging buddies asked me to write eBooks for my Blogging From Paradise blog after I trashed my former blogs. I listened closely to their feedback, tuned into my intuition and 120 eBooks later, I never looked back.
Ask readers for feedback. Be cautious about making any significant changes to your blog unless you ask your readers if they desire the change, first.
Listen to your readers while trusting your gut to build a large, loyal blogging community.
by Ryan Biddulph | Blogging |
This is a guest post by Ryan Biddulph. He shares smart blogging tips at Blogging From Paradise.
I recall 12 years ago vividly.
Someone told me to buy something called a “domain and hosting” in 2008 during my newbie blogger days. I had no idea what a blog was, nor did I know why I should blog. My mentor – I use the term loosely – told me to begin blogging. I began blogging. But I never asked anyone how to blog. I had zero blogging knowledge.
After winging it for a long time I struggled horribly. Turns out, writing and publishing content based on whatever comes to mind did not work too well for me.
I eventually mined blogging knowledge from seasoned professional bloggers. Pros know how to succeed. I learned from bloggers who knew how to succeed.
But I had to discern. Some pros offered advice resonant with my values. Other pros deviated from my ethical standards. I have erred horribly during my 12 year blogging career but I always intended to be:
- honest
- genuine
- ethical
- moral
- compassionate
in all I did online. Sifting through low energy advice from less than ethical pros allowed me to build my campaign based on compassionate, generous, genuine building blocks laid out by honest, heart-centered, professional bloggers.
How About You?
Who do you look to for blogging advice? Why do you look to these people?
Donna Merrill made an excellent point here:
Best Bloggers to Follow in 2021
She noted how the most successful bloggers are not necessarily the best bloggers to follow.
Some top pros do a poor job explaining how to succeed. A few top pros advise you to invest large amounts of money to go pro but most new bloggers do not possess a big blogging budget. Other top pros use less than ethical, borderline illegal tactics to drive blogging profits. But inexperienced newbies follow these pros blindly due to their own delusion, greed and desperation.
A few pros employ competitive tactics like hyped up sales copy, deadline-based marketing and other low energy strategies guaranteed to damage your reputation and erode your credibility.
Be careful about following advice from any established pro blogger who uses fear via manipulative tactics to drive sales. Blogging predominantly from an energy of fear never leads to anything good over the long haul. Beware top pros who want nothing to do with their readers, fans or fellow bloggers. I have met compassionate pros oozing kindness, generosity and knowledge.
I have also met less than genuine pros who did not want me to bother with me. I grew closer to the kind bloggers and released everyone else who came off as arrogant, haughty or high on themselves.
Follow pros who offer advice resonant with the basics of:
- creating helpful content
- building genuine bonds with bloggers through your generosity, detachment and trust
- monetizing through multiple streams of income
Every pro offers a different flavor.
I emphasize guest posting and genuine blog commenting. Other pros may point you in the direction of building a list and SEO-optimizing your posts for Google traffic. Follow your heart. Nice blogging guys and gals with a success consciousness actually finish first.
Soak up knowledge from compassionate pros. Heart-centered pros make your journey easier because you avoid headaches you’d encounter following advice from greedy, arrogant, manipulative pro bloggers.
Follow successful bloggers who place a heavy emphasis on showing you the process of how to succeed. Avoid pros who place a heavy emphasis on successful outcomes but skip some broad strokes in terms of teaching you how to blog successfully.
Never wing it.
Learn from the best bloggers who exude kindness, warmth and abundance.
Let go everyone else.
by Ryan Biddulph | Blogging |
This is a guest post by Ryan Biddulph. He shares smart blogging tips at Blogging From Paradise.
Watch.
Write.
I hate to sound simple. But being prolific is that simple.
Unfortunately, most bloggers confuse simple with easy. Bloggers believe watching and writing are easy. Anybody can watch, right? Anybody can write, correct? Why do few bloggers churn out content at a prolific clip, then?
Bloggers tend to do a poor job observing. Most human beings seemed tethered to the past or fixated on the future. No human being effectively observes people, places and things now if anchored to the past or ruminating about the future.
As for writing, I know of few bloggers who write 500-1000 words daily for practice. I advise every blogger to practice writing 500 or more words in a Word document daily to gain confidence in their writing skills. Writing 500 words in a Word document is simple. But writing 500 words in a Word document daily for years is uncomfortable.
I faced fears to write this blog post.
I already wrote and published 6 posts today between blog posts and guest posts. Ego told me I already did enough. Fear told me to get to bed in order to avoid feeling run down. I observed the fear. I felt the fear. I released the fear. I wrote this blog post.
Observe. Write.
Observe
Practice watching the world around you. I tune into reader problems. I also observe my life experiences for an endless flow of blog post ideas. But observing is not easy because the monkey mind jumps to and fro, like a tiny simian hopping around on tree branches. Consider meditating daily to quiet the mind. Quiet minds become completely aware of surroundings.
Stop right now. Take 5 deep breaths. Note every possible detail in your current surroundings. Let nothing go unnoticed. Pay particularly close attention to the thoughts and feelings flowing through your mind now. Following this simple practice for 5 minutes daily strengthens your powers of observation quickly.
Listen closely to your readers. Pore over their comments. Readers bring you an endless flow of blog post ideas if you pay attention to their thoughts, dreams, problems and hopes.
Write
Write diligently.
Practice writing daily in a Word document to gain clarity. Hone your writing voice through practice.
I have written enough to where I can write a 600 word post in 8-10 minutes if I genuinely want to. I do not write quickly as much as the words flow from my mind, to my fingers, to my laptop to the WordPress back office quite fast. I do not force myself to write quickly. But I practiced writing tens of millions of words since 2008. Doing so for 10,000 to 15,000 hours beefs up your skills in that discipline.
Observing people, places and circumstances to pluck blog post ideas out of thin air is not enough. Skilled, clear, confident writers convert airy ideas into tangible, helpful blog posts.
Never force yourself to write a blog post but publish content even if it feels uncomfortable to do so. Become prolific by edging outside of your content comfort zone.
I easily could have hit the sack a few moments ago. Writing this guest post for Cori and you rocking readers edged me out of my blogging comfort zone. Baby stepping out of comfort allows me to be more comfortable with making uncomfortable writing decisions in the future.
Summary
Being prolific is a simple but sometimes challenging process.
Become a skilled observer. Mine blog post ideas by watching.
Write diligently. Gain confidence and clarity in your writing voice.
Be a prolific blogger.
by Ryan Biddulph | Blogging |
This is a guest post by Ryan Biddulph. He shares smart blogging tips at Blogging From Paradise.
I commented on blogs a few moments ago.
But after 5 minutes I felt the urge to stop commenting.
I logged in to Cori’s blog and began writing this blog post.
I do comment genuinely on blogs for a short period of time daily. But I spend most time blogging and guest blogging because I am following my blogging path.
Sometimes I stray off of my blogging path. Blog commenting and social media chatting seemed to pull me away from my blogging purpose the past week or two. But I spotted my error to hop back onto my blogging path.
Becoming a successful blogger requires evolving.
Evolving demands you stay on your blogging path. But finding your path challenges you. Staying on blogging track feels uncomfortable. I felt comfortable genuinely commenting on blogs for hours each day over years. But I felt an urge to begin guest blogging and blogging more often because each offered me greater exposure and increased value for my readers.
I built strong bonds commenting genuinely on blogs but felt a strong inner pull to increase my exposure. Blog commenting felt comfortable to me. Guest posting required more effort, time, energy and commitment. I felt quite uncomfortable making the shift but had to do so in order to expand my success. More importantly, I began guest posting to help more bloggers.
Be prepared to walk a steadily changing blogging path over your online career.
New bloggers seem content with writing and publishing a 600-1000 word blog post weekly. Bloggers who commit fully to their craft over years observe their path change dramatically over the long haul. I slammed into writer’s block after 300 words when I began blogging in 2008. Now I can write 5-10 posts daily. My path in 2008 seemed to be writing and publishing a post weekly. But I gradually published one post daily as my path evolved. Years later I began guest posting. Podcasting entered the blogging fray for me a few years later.
My blog changed too. I trashed one blog in 2013. I trashed another blog in 2014. Blogging From Paradise was born in 2014. My blogging path changed once again because I chose a different blogging niche.
Following your blogging path tends to pull you away from other blogger’s paths.
I do not build an email list. Nor do I SEO-optimize blog posts. Goodness knows my blogging path feels drastically different from most pro bloggers. I write short, punchy, mindset themed blogging posts almost exclusively. No other established pro took this route. But I had to walk my unique blogging path to be the blogger I am today.
Walk your blogging path. Honor your intuition. Do not stray for too long; leaving your blogging path lumps you with the herd of blogging sheeple who experience mediocre or failing blogging careers. Follow your special blogging journey. Prepare yourself to feel uncomfortable at times. I still observe my ego doubting my blogging strategy sometimes, asking me if I could drive more traffic and profits with a big email list and Google traffic.
Nope!
MY blogging path does not include big lists, Google traffic or any of those strategies. Blogging and guest posting freely seems to be my blogging path for now.
But my blogging path is always subject to change, just like your blogging path.
Be open to fun, freeing blogging ideas invading your mind.
Be flexible.
Be open.
Walk your evolving blogging path.
Experience the greatest blogging success.
by Ryan Biddulph | Blogging |
This is a guest post by Ryan Biddulph. He shares smart blogging tips at Blogging From Paradise.
I spent 30 seconds pondering the title for this guest post.
Discomfort arose in my being. I observed:
- frustration
- agitation
- an urge to not write the guest post
surface in my mind. I felt the feelings. I released the feelings. I wrote the guest post.
Logically, this process sounds clean, neat and orderly. Emotionally, the process felt unpleasant because I do not enjoy feeling frustrated, agitated or like a quitter. Do you enjoy feeling these emotions? I did not think so 🙂
But I felt the feelings, hugged the emotions and released the energies. The idea for sitting with blogging discomfort entered my mind. I took it from there.
How often do you sit with blogging discomfort?
Or do you avoid uncomfortable emotions concerning your blogging campaign? Blog traffic sits outside of your comfort zone. Blogging profits sit outside of your comfort zone. Blogging business sits outside of your comfort zone. Freedom sits outside of your comfort zone.
The only way to edge outside of your blogging comfort zone is to ease into blogging discomfort. No human being enjoys feeling uncomfortable emotions. No person savors feeling fear. But the price of avoiding discomfort is steep; blogging struggles, failure and eventual quitting greets bloggers firmly ensconced inside of their comfort zones.
All blogging struggles originate inside of your comfort zone.
Imagine if you fear guest posting. Perhaps you fear pro bloggers rejecting your guest post pitches. Rather than wade into fear you avoid guest posting. Traffic and profit struggles plague your blogging campaign because you avoid facing, feeling and releasing the fear of guest posting. Avoiding discomfort guarantees your failure. Does that sound like a wise trade off?
Edge into the fear of guest posting.
Embrace the illusion of rejection. I appeared to be rejected a few times early during my guest posting career. But feeling these uncomfortable emotions removed the illusion. I observed the truth: bloggers may prefer writing styles different than your writing style. I only made this realization because I faced, felt and released the fear of rejection. Losing the fear of rejection reveals how human beings harbor personal preferences completely independent of you, your skills and your abilities as a blogger.
Edge into blogging discomfort.
Never cower to writer’s block. Stick around. Savor the frustration. Feel the anger. Hug the agitation. Allow these energies to exit your being. Clear fear. See clearly. Access unlimited blog post ideas by feeling uncomfortable emotions suggesting one can actually suffer from writer’s block.
Consider engaging in practices like meditating and doing yoga. Edge outside of your comfort zone. Habitually nudge into discomfort offline to develop the habit online.
Surround yourself with bloggers who value freedom over ducking fear. Follow their lead. Learn from their example. Blogging success flows to you well outside of your comfort zone. Sit with uncomfortable feelings. Watch how your mind and its illusory fears attempt to derail your blogging campaign. Lose bloggers surrounding you who make excuses, who complain and who never seem to edge forward into increased success.
Get comfortable with being highly uncomfortable.
Edging into discomfort seems to be a skill one develops after suffering through enough miserable conditions. I became familiar with being uncomfortable after experiencing a host of genuinely difficult life experiences over 10 years of my life. Either my life would become worse or I would free myself from these nightmares based on my willingness to make uncomfortable, freeing decisions. I chose to be free. I never looked back.
Hug discomfort.
Choose freedom.
Accelerate your blogging success.
